Heroes at Hogwarts

twenty-seven | uniforms and chitchats

leo
Leo Valdez didn't know how to tie a tie.

They'd been at the school for a week, and he still hadn't figured it out. Annabeth had tried teaching him. So had Beckendorf. So had Luna, Ginny, Hazel, Cho, Piper, and Jason. Even Calypso had learned just to teach him. He couldn't get it.

Why was he in this stupid smart house, anyway? Sure he could build a machine out of all the loose papers laying around in the common room, but he couldn't figure out what those papers meant. Annabeth fit right in. So did Beckendorf, which didn't make sense to Leo. If one child of Hephaestus could do it, why couldn't he?

As Luna tied his tie for the first class, she talked about something called wackerspurts, and Leo zoned out.

They were here for some kid named Harry Potter. Leo met him the first day, he was a cool kid. His friend Ron was cooler, but Harry was fine. Percy had reported to all of them that Harry was now in touch with some of his Poseidon powers.

"Great!" Leo had said, "Can we go now?"

"No," Annabeth had said immediately.

He didn't do change. It made him uncomfortable. And this school, this place...this was a whole lot of change.

"Come on." Annabeth came into the common room. "We're going to be late." She walked right by Leo.

He sighed. He'd always been kind of scared of her, but recently they'd become much better friends than they were aboard the Agro II. Then they'd come here, and she, Piper, Jason, Hazel, and Frank were right back out the door. Of course they were. He wasn't Frank Zhang, Jason Grace, or Percy Jackson. He wasn't as grand, strong, or brave.

Although he and Percy were still close, he'd decided to stick to Calypso. Maybe befriend some wizards.

Luna followed Annabeth. The two blondes got along, unless they were working together. They couldn't ever agree on anything. Leo followed the two girls.

As they got to their first class, with Hufflepuffs, Calypso kissed him as they walked in.

"Alright," she said as she fell back onto the balls of her feet. "What's got your brain stem in a twist?"

Leo smiled at her. "We'll talk about it later."

As Hazel, Reyna, and Will came over to them, he broke into a smile. "What is up-" he popped the 'p'- "Hufflepuffs. Gr, we're taking you down this year."

Hazel laughed. "Leo, like you care about the cup."

"No," Will said, "but you do." He turned to Annabeth, Cal, and Leo. "She won't stop talking about it. Her and Silena. They ate as a team this morning at breakfast. Reyna and I had to sit with Percy, Nico, and Piper."

The others laughed. Hufflepuffs and Slytherins didn't mix much. When the Hufflepuff demigods sat with the group of Slytherins Percy hung around, people still stared. It made Will uncomfortable, and he always complained.

Leo sat down at a shared desk with Calypso. Reyna and Annabeth sat, still talking about some trip to something called Hogsmead, and Hazel and Will sat up front. Professor McGonagall came out into the classroom.

"Alright, students, let's get going on..."

***

"Oh, sure." Calypso rolled her eyes. "Leo, you've got to get out of your own head."

"If I could do that, I would have," he told her.

"I think you're overthinking it," she assured him. "No one is abandoning you. Definitely not now."

Leo sighed. He'd been trying to explain his friends to her for at least half an hour. They were sitting under a large tree in the yard of the school. They both had many scarves wrapped around their necks, including their house scarves.

But Cal just didn't seem to get modern friendships. They didn't rely on real memories or trust anymore. Leo hated that. Now, it depended on who was the best in the room. Everyone wanted to be friends with the strongest, most popular person in the area. Leo wasn't on that list. Not with people like Frank, Jason, or Percy around.

"Cal..."

"No, I know what you're going to say," she interrupted him, "and it's something about not being popular or cool or whatever kids say these days." Leo chuckled to himself at her antics. "But Piper and Jason aren't abandoning you now. Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, and Percy...all of you are a team. The best team Olympus has ever seen. Now get out of your head and start being yourself again."

Leo smiled. "The best team Olympus has ever seen?"

"The best." She nodded. He laughed at her, and pulled her into a hug. "Don't bottle this stuff up, Valdez," she said into his jacket. "You can talk to me."

"I know."

She laughed at him and grabbed his hand. "Let's go. It's freezing."

////

Sorry it's so short (like Leo). I was having some trouble with this chapter.

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